The cheese is more like a thick foam, and we're here for it

A unique style of tea could be headed toward your local cafe. Cheese-topped tea, which originated as a drink sold at street stalls in Taiwan before working its way through Singapore, Malaysia, and China, is now beginning to gain notoriety in the US.

OK, let’s back up. If you’re thinking this is melted mozzarella on your earl gray, you’re way off. Cheese-topped tea, known as zhī shì chá in Mandarin, is a cup of tea like matcha, jasmine, or oolong, topped with an inch or so of salty whipped cheese. The finished product looks similar to any other foam or whipped cream-topped coffee drink, so it’s unlikely you’d know zhī shì chá contained cheese until you drank it.

Condé Nast Traveler reports that cheese tea is already available in certain US establishments, like Happy Lemon in Flushing, New York, and Little Fluffy Head in Los Angeles. As a firm supporter of sweet-and-salty (and a great lover of cheese) cheese tea sounds like exactly the respite I need from overly saccharine Frappuccinos.